Happily Always After
by applestoalways47
Summary: First fanfic ever, people! Just another post-Always fic, but I can't get enough of them! If you hate corny, flowery fanfics, then this one isn't for you. I'm new, so humor me!
1. Chapter 1

**Happily Always After**

Chapter 1

She had been saving this smile for this moment. She let the wide yet reserved grin spread between the ears that reddened with her cheeks in a soft blush. Her hazel-green eyes, now darkened by desire, never wavered as blue light shown from the orbs of the man in front of her, his smile of disbelief causing his eyes to crinkle in that way that she so loved. Her hand slithered down to grasp his, curling her slender fingers in his large ones. With a customary bite of her bottom lip, which he found sexier than ever on this particular occasion, Katherine Beckett gave Richard Castle's hand a slight tug in the direction of his bedroom.

They walked side-by-side, hand-in-hand, stealing glances at each other. Their downcast eyes and coy smiles made them appear to be teenagers, first loves delving into a kind of relationship they had never experienced before. Everything was so new and fresh and pure. Kate's breathing was surprisingly regular, though her heart threatened to beat through her chest. The serenity of the moment took both her and Rick by surprise. They had each harbored fantasies for years about what this moment would entail, envisioning something much more like the hungry, frenzied passion they had shared against his door, but they were content with calmness as well.

When they walked through his office and reached the bedroom, Rick released Kate's hand and placed both of his on her face, framing it, and, leaning his forehead to rest on hers, took her lips in a slow, sweet kiss. Kate's hands found his face as well, needing to hold him as close to her as physically possible. She needed proof that he was there, that he wanted her, _only _her, as she wanted him. Drops of water trickled down Kate's face, and she knew they had not come from her wet hair dampened by the rain. Rick knew also. He pulled back reluctantly from the kiss and tipped her chin up to capture her eyes with his.

"Kate? What is it, my love? What's wrong?" he asked, tears of his own threatening to sprout at her apparent distress. He reached for her cheeks, wiping away her tears with a gentle swipe of his thumb.

"I…I've just wanted this for so long. Now I have it, but…" She let out a long sigh, and her eyes wandered from his as she searched for her words. "I-I don't feel like I deserve you," she stuttered. "I've hurt you so much, Castle, and—"

"Stop," he interrupted, his face serious. Kate bit her lip in anxiety, screwing her eyes shut, refusing to meet his gaze. His hands still gripped her face in a kind of tender desperation. "We've both hurt each other. We've lied and deceived each other with secrets, but it's all over now. It's all in the past," he assured her while tilting his face to look for her eyes. He needed to see that she understood him and accepted his forgiveness. Her hands were still on his features as well, but they were tentative, like she still did not believe he was hers to hold.

"All that matters is now," he continued. His efforts to find her eyes proving futile, he rested his forehead on hers again, allowing his eyelids to droop closed. "I love you, Kate. Always."

At this, two sets of eyes fluttered open, and Kate finally succumbed to Rick's gaze, finding the deepest form of sincerity she could ever imagine. She had heard him declare these words before, but they hit her like a freight train this time. She knew that she felt the same passion and love that he did. He was not to be a one-night stand. Her eyes flickered to his lips and returned to his eyes as she leaned in to feather her lips across his. "I love you, too," she whispered against his lips as their noses brushed each other, her eyes drifting closed as her lips caressed his. She pulled back slightly and opened her eyes as he opened his, their synchronicity ever amazing her, blue meeting green in a blurred, teary gaze. "Always," she choked out, holding back a sob with as much of a smile as she could muster.

Now his hunger could not be controlled. Kate loved him. _The _Katherine Beckett loved _him—the _Richard Castle. She _always_ had, and _always _would. The days when he had considered her indifferent to him were now but a distant memory. Her love was his reality, and his love was hers. His hands moved down and gripped her waist, pulling Kate flush against him into a tight embrace as his lips enveloped hers, soon traveling to her pulse point. Her arms entangled themselves around his neck, never wanting to let go. He let them fall onto the bed, and soon both were divested of their clothes. Rick wanted to kiss every inch of her, needing to chase away the ghosts that haunted her scars with the feather-light touch of his lips. They had given each other everything—their feelings, their hopes, their dreams, their love. All they had left to surrender were their bodies, and when they finally became one, neither doubted that they could survive anything together. Always.


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Hey you guys—so I just realized I forgot all the disclaimer-y stuff in my first chapter, so I composed a limerick to avoid liability issues.**

**Castle, alas, is not mine.**

**Andrew Marlowe, you rascal,n'tis thine.**

**But I'll worship the show**

**Till I give up and go**

**To a place where the sun does not shine.**

**Happily Always After**

Chapter 2

The sun, having usurped the rain's control over the night sky and brought in morning, tried in vain to break the barrier of the heavy drapes that shunned its light. The bright orb pleaded, begging to be let in, but the curtains stood firm. The sun was disheartened, but it nevertheless persisted in its struggle. Straining, the ball of light spotted a sliver of space in the wall of curtains and concentrated its rays there, a strand of brightness falling upon intertwined fingers.

Rick's sleeping form enveloped Kate's, tenderly possessive, her back to his front. One leg rested between the two of hers, one arm lay across her waist, one hand gripped one of hers. His face was nestled in her hair, now a mane of gorgeous, tousled curls naturally dried after the rain. He smiled, though asleep, the all-too-familiar scent of cherries wafting to his nose. His breath gently caressed her neck, the warmth causing her to smile in slumber as well.

Kate was the first to stir, her eyes fluttering open into the sunshine that had grown stronger but had not awoken her partner. Kate could not remember a time when she had felt so well rested. Her dreams had not been haunted by the ghosts of her past. Rather, a new character had taken up residence there—one Richard Castle. She lazily caressed his fingers, smiling to herself as she struggled to remember which parts of the night had been dreams and which had been reality.

She wanted more than to imagine his face; she attempted to shift without waking him in order to watch him sleep, though she partly wished that he would wake so she could talk to him, know his thoughts. Those thoughts had inspired her once and still did. His words on the page had been the soothing voice that had helped her cope with her mother's death. Now she had inspired him, and she could now hear his words spoken, which made them even more beautiful to her than any printed prose. She turned and hissed as her soreness from yesterday's fight with Maddox finally caught up with her. She removed the sheet covering her and found angry blue, purple, and green splotches across her arms, abdomen, and legs, and she was sure there must be some on her back as well.

Rick's fingers responded to her ministrations by gently squeezing her hand, indicating to her that she must have awoken him. She managed to turn onto her back, suppressing a groan of pain, and watched as his eyes flickered open, only to squint closed in the harsher sunlight.

"Hey there, sleepyhead," she chuckled, her eyes probing up and down his features, hoping to find a sliver of that blue glow that his eyes emitted.

"Morning, sunshine," he yawned with a smile, stretching his harms out and then letting his face fall down into the pillow again with a groan. Kate laughed at his childish nature, though it was one of the things she most loved about him.

"Safe to say you're not a morning person, huh?" she quipped, her smile widening as he turned his head and tried once more to open his eyes only to squint again.

"Not today, I guess," he sighed, rubbing his eyes. "I should be used to early mornings by now, what with getting calls from you about bodies dropping at all hours of the night."

Oh.

Her job.

She hadn't told him.

She had to, though. He was as much a part of that job as she was. She braced herself and began, "Castle, listen, I…"

But before she could finish, his eyes blinked open, and, achieving sudden clarity, he gasped as he saw the bruises consuming her skin.

Oh.

She hadn't told him about that either.

He bit his lip now, not in the way that Kate did, but to keep himself from yelling and crying. He screwed his eyes shut, and water leaked out of the cracks. Had those been there last night? Did he…?

"Kate," he breathed, burying his head in her golden-brown locks, muffling his jagged breathing, one hand reaching to cup her face, the other clutching her fingers for dear life. She tried to hold in the hiss of pain, but to no avail. Those fingers had been rubbed raw, straining to hold onto the side of the building she had been thrown over.

He released his hands suddenly and pulled back his head. He was hurting her. Where? His eyes shot open and raked her body, pushing the sheet down further, searching for the point of pain. There were too many to count.

"Tell me where I'm hurting you," he implored, his eyes begging to soothe her pain. "Please, Kate. Did…I didn't…I mean…" Those perfect blue orbs drifted closed, avoiding the horrid sight and stemming the tide of tears.

Their synchronicity of thought finally kicked in. Her eyes suddenly widened in concern, deepening their gaze. "No, no of course you didn't do this!" she assured him, shaking her head. "No, no," she cooed like an affectionate mother calming her child after a nightmare, stroking his temples and cheeks. She needed to get this point across. His eyes opened again, pleading.

She wanted to shift in order to face him. She tried, but her abdomen cried out, and so did she. This undid Rick. He wanted so desperately to touch her, to heal her, but he felt as though he could only cause her pain. He turned away from her, his head in his hands.

A hand caught his wrist, however. She didn't want him to go. He grimaced and turned back to her, her eyes welling up with tears. "Castle, you have to believe me," she pleaded, reaching for his face. He obliged, his eyes closing in gratitude and relief as she pulled his lips to his in a soft kiss. She held his face in her hands for one more moment and then released it.

"Help me?" she asked, cocking her head slightly to indicate that she wanted to turn onto her stomach, sounding more needy than she had intended.

"Of course, of course," Rick replied with evident concern. He gently reached for her waist and pulled her so that her back faced the ceiling. Kate's pain was lessened simply by his touch. Yes, they could get through this.

They lay side-by-side, heads facing each other on her pillow, the extreme closeness suiting both perfectly fine, and she gently took her hand in his. She took a deep breath and prepared to explain.

"I…After you left that night, Javi and I caught a break on my shooter. The next day, we went to his hotel room, but he got the drop on Espo. I followed him to the roof, and I was no match for him. He toyed with me, and eventually…he threw me off the side of the roof…" Rick gasped and swallowed down a sob, grinding his teeth so hard it made him shiver.

As much as she loved him, Kate hated this side of Rick—the helpless, vulnerable side that could be pierced so easily.

"Castle," she cooed, drawing lazy circles over his knuckles, "Castle." His eyes opened again, and she brushed the tears from his cheeks before continuing.

"Maddox just left me for dead, hanging there. I looked down below, thinking I would be like my mother, another crumpled body bleeding out in an alley." Her breath hitched. "But then I thought of something even more unthinkable. I would never be able to tell you how I felt—I _feel._ I've loved you for so long, Castle, and I couldn't bear to think of you in so much pain. That's what made me hold on, Castle. I had something more to live for than my mother's death."

Rick leaned forward, now unashamed of his tears, cupping her face with his hands. He was worth more to her than her mother's murder case? He would have been the happiest man alive, if not for the bruises littering his beautiful Kate's body. _His _Kate. He wanted proof that she was there, that she hadn't fallen into a jumbled mess of limbs in a godforsaken alley. His lips connected with hers, hungry and yet restrained. He pulled away, knowing she had to finish the story.

She breathed deeply again and continued, "I hung there thinking about everything that we had been through together, all the times you made me smile, laugh, scream, and cry, and then I felt one hand slip…"

He sucked in a breath through his teeth and cast his eyes downward, allowing the lids to squeeze shut, wanting to eliminate the image of her dangling ten stories high from his brain.

"I knew that couldn't be the end. Then I heard you calling my name."

His watering eyes opened, questioning, and stared into her green orbs that were also filled with tears. He gently leaned forward and kissed the corners of her eyes, wicking away the drops. Her eyes fluttered shut when she felt the tender touch of his lips, never wanting it to end. But she had to continue.

"I heard your voice, and I decided that I couldn't give in. I kept holding on and called out your name, and just as my fingers fell, Ryan yelled my name and grabbed my wrist. He pulled me up, and I said your name again, wanting—_needing_—to know that you were there. He just shook his head. Then I saw Gates was standing behind Ryan. He had told her where Javi and I had gone and had called for backup. In part, Ryan's the reason I'm still alive," she said, staring straight into Castle's eyes with as much love and gratitude as possible, "but you are, too."

Castle let out the breath he had been holding and buried his face in her hair once more, breathing shallow puffs of air. Castle lifted his face, staring into the eyes he loved so well. She was there. She wasn't gone. When he had hidden his face in her hair, strands of it had fallen across her features, so he raised a hand to tenderly tuck the stray locks behind her ear.

That's when he noticed them.

**Ooh cliffhanger…I already have chapter 3 written, but I'll let you guys sweat for a bit so you can try and guess what Castle sees. Reviews make me happier than a kid on Christmas **


	3. Chapter 3

**Hi All—**

**So here's the next installment of my fic. When reading this whole story again, I am aware that the title is somewhat more cheerful than the actual plotline, but it will get lighter later—I promise. I just kind of like melodramatic stuff sometimes, you know? Part of a fanfiction writer's DNA. Hope y'all enjoy.**

**Another disclaimer limerick!**

**To Andrew Marlowe and ABC **

**I owe an apology.**

**Though Castle's divine,**

**It is their work, not mine,**

**But do please read this story for me. **

**Happily Always After**

Chapter 3

The finger-shaped bruises staining her neck were illuminated in the sunlight.

The bastard.

Rick leapt out of the bed, walking to the end of it and leaning on the bedpost for support. The hand splaying across his face quickly became wet with tears. Though all her muscles protested, Kate sat up with a groan, worry evident in her eyes.

"Did…did he…" he stammered, his right hand reaching to cover his mouth in disbelief. He couldn't even say it. It was unthinkable. His Kate strangled?

"Did he choke you, Kate?" he croaked, extending the hand that had previously held in the stinging words, begging her not to declare his words as truth. He felt as though he himself was about to choke.

Kate sighed, the heels of her hands pressing into her eyelids, pushing the tears back into her eyes. "Yes, when we fought."

Castle's hand returned to covering his mouth, his eyes shutting in fury and pain. He could kill that son of a bitch. He paced back and forth from one end of the bed to the other in anxiety.

Kate sat with her legs crossed, watching him with tear-brimmed eyes. It was so painful to see him like this. She needed to show him that she was here and that she wasn't going anywhere.

"Castle," she pleaded, her eyes straining to find his. "Castle?"

"Rick?"

He was startled. She had used his given name. She had called it out the night before, but never had she used it in such a tone of sincerity and intimacy since they had admitted their feelings for one another.

"Rick, please look at me," she choked out, sounding like a small child begging for a parent's forgiveness. He could not deny her.

Teary blue found watery green, and Rick quickly joined her on the bed, sitting cross-legged, mirroring his Kate and leaning in to touch his lips to hers. Kate deepened the kiss, wrapping her arms around his neck and entwining her legs behind his waist, pulling herself into his lap. Rick kissed her with abandon, fisting the sheets to avoid touching her, hurting her. He desperately needed to touch her, and Kate knew it. She guided his arms around her back, throwing all concern for pain to the wind. Rick was hesitant at first, but then he pulled her as close as humanly possible, needing to feel she was really there.

Her lips disconnected with his, and they rested their foreheads together. She immediately missed the warmth of his mouth on hers, but she still had one more confession to make.

"Gates suspended me and Javi, but…I resigned, Rick," she stated with far more confidence than she had anticipated.

His eyes bore into hers. "You…you did?" he stammered. The best cop at the 12th precinct, in the city of New York, and had resigned? No. Even if it was true, why? Though still shocked by Kate's declaration, Rick's eyes quickly became laced with concern and he regained his powers of speech. "Kate, are you sure that's what you want? I mean, I'll support you know matter what, but—"

She cut off his rambling with a swift kiss to his lips. He was content to be silent.

"You are all I want," her voice and eyes assured him with unwavering conviction.

His lips were magnetized to hers again. They moved to her neck as Rick leaned, laying Kate out on the bed, then to her chest and stomach, not stopping until they had kissed every individual bruise that they could find. Kate wanted more, but Rick was afraid of causing her too much pain. Again, Kate signaled that she did not care about the bruises. She needed him, so he gave himself, all of him, to her without a second thought.

Heavy with sated contentment, Kate rested atop Rick's chest, her eyes locked on his.

"You, my dear, need a bath," Rick declared, one set of fingers gently and lazily winding through her tangled hair as the index finger of his other hand lightly tapped her nose, punctuating his words.

Kate gaped, feigning shock. "Richard Edgar Castle, are you implying that I, Katherine Beckett, smell?"

Rick could not help but rejoice at seeing this side of Kate. The unabashed happiness flowing from her eyes was like nothing he had ever seen. In fact, her words sounded somewhat like a comment he would make.

But he could turn the tables, too.

Now it was his turn to be the tease.

Rick seductively scanned her face, shifting his gaze to her mouth and back up to her eyes before lowering his lips to her pulse point, his nose brushing the underside of her chin. Kate shivered, her eyes flickering shut with lust. What this man could do to her with just one touch…

"You smell like cherries," he responded throatily, "as always."

He took special care while sliding out from under her and got up off the bed, slipping on his boxers. Kate pouted in mock disappointment. Rick did not fail to notice, throwing her a Machiavellian smile and letting a "saucy" creep out from under his breath. He pulled on sweatpants and a t-shirt and bent down to pick up his dress shirt from the past night off the floor. He shook out the garment and began to fold it.

Kate loved how domestic he looked. Images of him doing laundry and folding their children's clothes filled her mind. Driving the kids to school, doing the dishes, even the most mundane tasks seemed to…

"Miss Beckett, you are staring." Rick's voice abruptly brought her out of her reverie. Oh God. She had been staring at him as if he were her dreamy high school crush. She buried her face in the pillow in embarrassment. Rick chuckled smugly as he sauntered into the bathroom to run the bath. He placed the shirt atop a towel and rested the items on the edge of the bed, bending down to give Kate a lingering kiss on her forehead.

"Change into this after you soak a while in the tub, okay? I'll have pancakes ready for you when you get out," he said with a smile, waggling his eyebrows as he remembered Ryan and Esposito's comments about certain morning-after breakfast foods. They would have a field day when they found out about him and Beckett. And he couldn't even _begin _to think about Lanie. As he walked out the door, he wondered if they still had that pool going…

As soon as he left the room, Kate once again buried her face in the pillow, but not out of embarrassment. Katherine Beckett was excited. Love struck. Ecstatic. Over the moon. She was Richard Castle's girlfriend, a title that she had never even believed it possible for her to own. No, not girlfriend—something more familiar. Partner. But not just in the line of duty. In all things. That was the _unfamiliar _territory that she could not wait to explore with her lovely man-child trailing ever-so-slightly behind her, his hand in hers.

She pushed her aching body off the bed, now impervious to the pain, and slipped into the bath, its warmth soothing her sore muscles. _Yes,_ she thought, _I could get used to this._

**Told you it would get a little lighter. I'll probably just do a chapter or two more so people can find out about Castle and Beckett's relationship. Still, reviews motivate, so I may change my mind if you guys want to see more. I want to do something a little more off the wall than another post-Always fic, but I can't do multiple plotlines, so we'll save that for later.**


	4. Chapter 4

**Hi Everyone—**

**So here's the last chapter of "Happily Always After." I'm off to Ohio for two weeks and I don't know if I'll be able to update. The story gets kind of AU here because I don't want to deal with the whole "Maddox putting Beckett in the ground" thing. Hope you enjoy **

**Disclaimer: **Don't have the energy for a limerick. Castle and all its affiliations belong to ABC and Andrew Marlowe, not me .

Kate rested her eyes while laying in the bathtub, thoughts of Richard Castle filling her mind. Roused from her reverie by the feel of tepid water, Kate extricated herself from the tub, drying herself with a towel and slipping on Rick's shirt, his heavenly scent wafting from the fabric. Her bruises felt much better, but other parts of her needed healing as well. After giving her hair a once-over with a brush, Kate Beckett was drawn to the kitchen by the aroma of pancakes.

Rick poured more batter onto the griddle, surprised at his amount of focus considering the fact that thoughts of Kate Beckett controlled his brain. After a minute or two, he gingerly flipped the pancakes, unaware that the very woman occupying his thoughts was padding quietly into the kitchen.

Rick screamed as two deft hands quickly squeezed his sides, causing the spatula he had been holding to fly across the room. However, by the time he had retrieved it, the culprit had vanished. He quickly resolved to apprehend the criminal.

"Now, if I were Kate Beckett, where would I hide?" he shouted, his voice coated with sass and echoing around the loft.

He did not expect the giggle.

First of all, Kate Beckett did not giggle.

Ever.

Second of all, she had been putting up with him for years and had perfected the art of deflecting his smart-aleck comments.

Thirdly, she had an untouchable (not to mention sexy) poker face.

So when he heard the quiet giggle reverberate off the walls of the study, he made a beeline for the room.

As soon as he entered the door, Kate employed the element of surprise again. Jumping out of the corner behind the door, Kate tackled Rick to the floor, using her extensive police training to pin him down. Their eyes locked, radiating smiles.

This Kate was different.

She wore no makeup, and her wet hair was beginning to form wispy tendrils that framed her face. Rick had never seen her look so simply beautiful and…young. The old Kate Beckett, the innocent (or wild) child unscathed by her mother's murder, was, bit by bit, resurfacing.

"Well you're awake," Rick chuckled, raising his head to bring a tender peck to the tip of her nose. Kate pushed him back down again, replacing her nose with her lips in a passionate kiss.

"Got that right," she said, beaming and smiling at the man beneath her. "You really think I would actually giggle and give up my location if I weren't luring you into a trap? Guess your "research" didn't do much good, Castle," she quipped.

Just then, their noses curled in unison, inhaling that unmistakable smell. Something was burning.

"Shit! The pancakes!"

Rick scrambled out from underneath Kate, who quickly followed him to the kitchen, reproaching him with a "Mr. Castle, language!" Rick flipped the pancakes, their undersides black and charred.

Rick groaned. "Well, at least this isn't the first batch. I've already made plenty." Kate smiled at his thoughtfulness, her eyes smiling with her lips.

"What?" Rick questioned, his brows knitting together as he plucked the plate of pancakes from the counter and set it on the kitchen island, never breaking eye contact with Kate.

"You're pretty adorable, you know that?" she said, one hand carding through his hair.

"Oh no, missy. You're not getting off that easily. You know this is your fault, right?"

Now this she was not expecting.

"Excuse me?"

"If you hadn't pounced on me, our place wouldn't smell like burnt dough. But I'm feeling generous today, so I will forgive you."

Our place.

_Our _place.

She had a _place _here. Kate had to wonder if it was simply a Freudian slip or…something more. Her smile returned to her features, and suddenly the entire conversation had escaped her. She reached for a pancake.

A hand halted her movement at her wrist. "Ah, ah, ah!" Rick scolded. "They're not done yet!" he whined. He released her wrist and scurried to the pantry, quickly hiding the sought-after item behind his back once he had retrieved it. Kate craned her neck to find out what he was holding, but he caught onto her snooping and turned away from every place she looked. Kate Beckett hated being on the receiving end of surprises; she liked to initiate them, as Castle had discovered earlier that morning. Consequently, she pouted in impatience like a petulant child.

He made his way back to the island and finally revealed his secret—it was a bag of chocolate chips. On her pancake, he placed two for eyes, one for a nose, and several for a smile that matched the one adorning the face of the woman watching in glee.

"Normally, these are emergency-cheering-up pancakes, but I think they work for happy special circumstances as well," he said, his natural charm emanating from his radiant smile.

Kate's grin spread from ear to ear. She looked up from the pancake into the eyes of its chef, the blue depths emitting waves of love into her hazel ones. "There's more where that came from," he said as he plopped the bag of chocolate chips next to Kate and returned to the griddle to make a fresh batch.

Once all the pancakes had been made, the couple sat and ate their breakfast. They ate in silence for the first few minutes, but then Kate shattered it.

"When did you know you were in love with me?"

Rick finished chewing and laced his fingers with Kate's before making his statement.

"After our first case, you intrigued me. I wanted to know your story. I wanted to know if I had pegged you correctly that day when we were reading all my fanmail." Kate quirked her eyebrows a bit at this, but Rick continued. "This may make me sound like a bit of a smug jackass, but bear with me.

"So anyway, during mob case when Sorenson got shot, I began to admire you. I said you were extraordinary, and I meant it. When you said we were through, I couldn't fathom not coming into work with you everyday, not being with you."

Kate listened intently now, here eyes never wavering from his face.

"And when you took me back after the whole Cosmo debacle, I knew you wanted to know more about me, too. After _Heat Wave_ came out, I realized that it wasn't about the books anymore. I wanted to keep working with you regardless of whether the book sold or tanked. When we said goodbye after the Talbot case, it just felt wrong. But when you said, 'You coming, Castle?' I was so relieved that I wouldn't lose you."

Kate could feel the tears perching on her eyelids.

"When I realized that Ben Conrad wasn't the real killer in the serial case, that's when I knew."

Kate let out a hitched sigh.

"I called and called, but you weren't picking up. I could bear not coming to the precinct anymore, not seeing you everyday, but I could never recover from your death. When I saw your apartment burst into flames, I as terrified as I was when Alexis went missing in that mall. I thought I had lost one of the most important women in my life."

A solitary tear rolled down Kate's cheek as she thought about Castle's suffering. She had felt the same way when she had figured out that Jerry Tyson was the real triple killer.

"Until I banged down your door and yelled your name, I never thought hearing someone cough would make me so happy and relieved. You were alive, and I loved you." Tears were glistening in his eyes now, but a smile graced his lips.

Kate let out a cross between a laugh and a sob, pulling Castle in for a tight embrace. She sniffled, pulled away from his shoulder, and tenderly met her lips with his.

"You just can't answer in one sentence, can you? Writers," she joked, shaking her head in mock disapproval.

"There's always a story," Castle replied in a somewhat more serious tone, but his eyes still radiated happiness. "You just have to find it," he finished, pulling Kate in for another kiss.

They both reflected on the time since he first said those words to her. It seemed like yesterday, yet they had both grown and changed so much.

"So are you going to tell me when you first fell in love with me, or are you just gonna tease me?" he quipped.

"Well," she began, "I'll try not to give you an elaborate narrative, but here goes. So I started dating Demming before that summer you let for the Hamptons with Gina."

Both of their faces scrunched into sneers at the memory.

"He was so nice, and we had a lot in common, but…he wasn't what I was looking for. I hadn't known that all along, what I had been looking for…was you," she said, recalling her realization with perfect clarity.

Rick's eyes smiled into hers, and he leaned in for yet another kiss.

"You know, Rick, if you keep kissing me, these pancakes are gonna get cold," she playfully snapped.

"Wait! You have to put the chocolate chips on!" he pleaded.  
"All right then, Writer-Man," she retorted, picking up the bag and placing smiley faces on her pancakes.

"Wait, wait," Castle said, holding up a hand as Kate's brow furrowed in confusion. "Let me just bask in this moment. I have graduated from Writer-Boy to Writer-_Man_. Could you let Lanie know, please?"

"Oh, shit! Lanie!" Kate squealed, running to retrieve her phone from the bedroom.

"Miss Beckett, language!" Rick called after her.

"Caaaaastle, shut uuuuuup!" she whined.

"Turnabout is fair play, my dear—" Castle stopped before he said "detective." This would take some getting used to, but they had time.

Kate's screen lit up as she turned on her phone: 26 missed calls from Lanie, Ryan, Javi, and…one from Gates? She had to call all of them back eventually. But for now, she would simply enjoy her time with Rick while she figured out the rest of her life.

Though Kate knew the future was unknown, she was certain of one thing—Castle could be there for her, and she could be there for him, and they could just dive into it together. They would be there for each other. Always.

**So there you have it! I'm off to writing camp, so hopefully the fanfics I write will be even better when I come back. Thanks to everyone for the support, and please review . While I'm gone, maybe amuse yourselves by trying to figure out why I chose my username. The apples to always part is obvious, but the 47 has more meanings than you may think…Post your ideas in reviews!**


End file.
